More than 1,000 migrants were flown to southern Italy on Saturday after the coast guard organized a major rescue operation for three boats battling rough seas off the coast of Calabria.

A Coast Guard vessel carried 584 people to the city of Reggio Calabria, while another escorted an overcrowded fishing boat carrying 487 migrants to the port of Crotone, near the February 26 shipwreck that killed at least 74 people.

Local authorities said another 200 migrants were detained off the coast of Sicily and would be taken to Catania later that day.

More than 4,000 people have arrived in Italy since Wednesday, up from about 1,300 for all of March last year, as the country’s conservative government struggles to contain the influx despite repeated promises to stop the flows.

On Friday, the Coast Guard dispatched eight boats to carry out various rescue operations, and a patrol boat was called in to prevent a repeat of last year’s disaster when a migrant boat crashed off the coast of Calabria.

On Saturday, the body of a young woman was removed, bringing the death toll to 74. As a result of the crash, 79 people survived, but about 30 people are believed to have died and are still missing.

The prosecutor’s office is looking into whether the Italian authorities should do more to prevent a catastrophe. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni dismissed these scenarios and tried to put all the blame on the traffickers.

Italy’s cabinet on Thursday introduced tougher prison sentences for traffickers and promised to open more channels for legal immigration.

Late last year, he criticized the charity’s rescue boats, accusing them of operating as a taxi service for migrants. This measure has led to a sharp reduction in the number of rescue ships patrolling off the coast of North Africa, from where most immigrants go.

But departures have skyrocketed, with about 17,000 migrants arriving in Italy by boat this year, compared to about 6,000 during the same period in 2022.

Source: Reuters.